This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for cremating bodies and more particularly to the efficient cremation of a body by utilizing the heat of consumption of a second body to efficiently finish the consumption of a first body.
Cremation as a means for disposing of the bodies of humans in an ancient art. Numerous improvements have been made to the ancient methods with the object of achieving greater efficiency. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,212,307 (Adams, Jan. 16, 1917), a cremation furnace was described having a casket chamber and a furnace pit with burners directed downwardly into the pit together with a long narrow air conduit leading to the bottom of the furnace pit and an air conduit leading through the wall and discharging immediately beneath the casket so that fluid fuels could be burned without noise and vibration. U.S. Pat. No. 1,421,919 (Davidson, July 4, 1922), discloses a crematory having a plurality of combustion chambers that could be operated by one heat unit, together with means for circulating the heated gases through the chambers, means for individually controlling the circulation in each of such chambers, means for consuming smoke arising from the combustion chambers, and means to prevent the transmission of vibration from the furnace to the combustion chambers and means to create a supply of heat. In Davidson, the combustion chambers were not in communication with each other, and consumption of the body took place in a single chamber. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,136,273 (Blesch, June 9, 1964), a method and apparatus for cremation is disclosed wherein a body is placed in a chamber substantially free of oxygen and subjected to high temperatures to drive off volatiles which are piped and burned in a separate furnace after the volatiles are driven off, the the carbon is consumed in the presence of oxygen by applying a higher temperature to the chamber leaving the conventional mineral ash. Another reference of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 3,176,634 (Martin, Jan. 29, 1963) wherein a fireball incenerator is disclosed for cremating poultry.
The disadvantage with the systems described is that the rate of consumption of a body varies according to the amount of the body that has been consumed, and in the systems described the body must be totally consumed in the chamber provided before another body can be cremated. Another disadvantage is that the systems described in the prior art do not utilize the heat of consumption of the body being cremated, thus leading to inefficient energy use.